Composition of material for and process of manufacture of railroad-ties, posts, and similar articles.



P. WEGKERLY. COMPOSITION OI' MATERIAL POR AND PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE 0I'RAILROAD TIES, POSTS,

'AND SIMILAR ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25, 1907.

Patented Sept. 7, 1909.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK WECKERLY, OF ST. DAVIDS, PENNSYLVANIA.

COMPOSITION F MATERIAL FOR AND PROCESS 0F MANUFACTURE (5F RAILROAD-TIES,

POSTS, ANDsIMILAn ARTICLES.

Specication of Letters Patent.

. Patented Sept?, 1909.

Application led May 25,y 1907. Serial No. 375,618.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I. FRANK WECKERLY, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of St. Davids, county of Delaware, and State of'Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inComposition of Material for and Process of Manufacture of Railroad-Ties,Posts, Pipes, and Similar Articles, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to manufacture of railroad ties, posts, pipes andsimilar articles, of comparatively long, coarsely separated vegetablefibers, bound together as hereinafter more fully described, and consists(l) of the novel composition of binding or cementing material for suchfibers; and (2) of the process of compounding the binding or cementingmaterial and the process of manufacture of such articles. Thevegetablevfibers employed for the manufacture of such ties, posts, pipes andsimilar articles according to my invention, are obtained of roughlycrushed (not broken) stems and eaves of coarse grass, preferably such as'grows in salt marshes, palmettos, straw, cornstalks, reeds and thelike. The fibers may be prepared in any suitable manner, bearing inmind, that it is not necessary to free the fibers from the incrustingsubstances and that it is desirable to preserve, as much as possible,their longitudinal continuity. The best way of preparing such fibers isby passing the stems, reeds, etc., lengthwise between compressingrollers having somewhat roughened surfaces.

The binding or cementing material is made up of coal-tar, approximately26 parts measured by volume, hard pitch, approximately 26 parts, anddead oil. approximately 10 parts, combined in suitable proportions witha dry filler such as brickmeal, crushed slag, finely crushed siliceousslate and other similarly composed substances. The object of combiningcoal tar and hard pitch with the stated siliceous substances for thisbinding or cementin material, is to obtain the preservative action ofthe higher phenols, contained in the dead oil, upon the vegetable bers,while producing a binding medium of such quality as is required for theintended use of the composition. If the vegetable fibers,

permanent consistency and yieldingI used in the composition would not bereserved so as to protect them against rotting, the material producedwould not be capable of such use, as it would not be durable. And again,if the cementing compound would not be made of the requisite andpermanent consistency and yet yielding, the resulting material could notbe used for its intended purposes, because it would not be capable ofeing worked by tools, would notermit driving of nails, spikes into it orhol them against the strains. Such lmaterial would also be subjectto`changes by variations in temperature and atmospheric influences. Thepreservative eifect u on the vegetable is obtained by the action ofP thehigher phenols contained in dead oil in free state. This condition ofthese higher phenols', and their reservative capacity upon theavegetable Ebers, are preserved by combining hard pitch, itself aproduct of coal tar,and nearly always containing some dead oil itself,but not having any chemical iniuence u on the constituents of dead oil,and partlcularly upon the higher phenols, and by the use of suchsiliceous material as slag, brickmeal or slate as the filler, which hasno effect whatever upon the'higher phenols contained in the viscouscomponents of the cement. Such siliceous material is therefore eminentlysuitable to be used to effect the necessary thickening of the cement,besides `having the capacity of effecting this thickening of the cementso that the consistency of the resulting product is permanent, wellcapable of being regulated according to the mean temperature of thelocality where such material is to be used, and not liable to be changedby ordinary variations in temperature as occur by chan es in season orclimate. The proportion of cording to whether brickmeal, crushed slag orfinely crushed slate is used. Crushed slag is best suitable owing to itscapacity to unite more intimately with the other ingredients of thecement and owing to its possessing nearly the same specific gravity. Theuse of crushed sla results in producing a greater bulk by less weightand what is more important a much more homogeneous mass than either ofthe other dry filler materials. Brlckmeal 1snearly equally wellsuitable, though 1t s specific gravity is greater and lts capacity toparts should be used. The

Aio

on railroad ties by the running of trains,

which render it particularly -available for use in manufacture of suchrailroad ties and similar articles. The compounding of the binding orcementing material of the substances hereinbefore enumerated, and in thestated proportions, results also in imparting to such materials aboutthe same specific gravity as`\ the kind ofwoods used for such mixed withthe dry filler.

v heated tar and dead oil maybe conveyed be-` tween them. By these meansthe ingredients purposes, when impre ated with creosote compounds, andin addition thereto a greater degree of resistance to decay ordisintegrating under atmospheric influence, and greater durability insuch use, than wood treated with any preservative compound known to me.

' The ingredients, composing the cement, are prepared and mixedv asfollows :e-The tar is heated to about 165 F.,\the dead oil is addedthereto and thoroughly mixed; the hard pitch is piilvertized andthoroughly The heating of the tar, and the mixing therewith of the deadoil, is done in a vat set upon a suitably constructed furnace, and soarranged that the liquid mass may be continuously drawn therefrom insuch wide and thin flow as the process of manufacture of such railroadties, posts, pipes and similar articles requires. The pulverized pitchand the'dry filler are mixed by a mechanical apparatus set in a troughprovided with means for continuously discharging two substantially evenlayers of the mixture, one layer upon each of two rollers, setunderneath quite closely together and slowly revolving toward eachother. These rollers must be set in such position, that the flow oftheliquid mixture ofthe of the binding composition are com ounded togetherand simultaneously forme into a moving continuous. layer. This layer ofthe binder or cementing material as it emerges from between the rollers,is conveyed continuously toward another set of compressing rollers, andwhile thus in transit, the fibers, stems, straw, cornstalks, etc.,whichever of these materials lare used, are laid thereon" acrossthewidth of the layer and so as to intersect with eachother, but neverat right machine employed for angles with each other, orpwith the layer;the idea being that the stem reeds or stalks while they should intersectWit-h each other sli'ould never lie parallel to the line Lof motion ofthe layer ofthe cementing material, and this intersecting is to beeffected by alternately slightly deviating from a line at right anglesto the line of motion of the moving layer. The layer of the bindingcomposition with the fibers thus laid thereon is then again run betweenslowly revolving compressing rollers, upon which there is alsoconstantly being deposited a thin layer ofthe dry filler, inelypulverized to prevent the material from 'adhering thereto. In thismanner, there is formed a continuous layer of my improved material formanufacture of railroad ties, posts, pi es and the like, and this layeris preferab y formed slightly wider than the desired length of the ties,posts, etc. This layer is formed while vet flexible, into such ties,osts, etc., by Winding it upon a mandrel until the coil attains therequisite thickness. Then it is cut off, its ends trimmed andthe rollcompressed in forms as may be required to give to it any desired shape.AInsteadof winding the continuous layer upon, a mandrel, it may be foldedupon itself and then compressed. Such method is preferable when theproduct is to be used in sheets or strips.

The arrangement of the mechanical devices for carrying on my improvedprocess is'shown, conventionally illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, wherein- Figurel is a sectional elevation of a diagram of sucha machine as may be usedfor carrying on this process; Fig. 2 is an endview,'partly sectional (looking'toward the rightof Fig. 1), showing theparts of the v reparing and rolling the binding layer; ig. 3 is asectional view of the dry mixing trou h taken on line :1i-, indicated inFig. 2; F

the conveyer showing, in the first fraction, the rolled layer of thebinding composition, i the second fraction, the reeds or other simi armaterial deposited thereon before being compressed to ther with thebinding layer, and in the thir fraction, the sheet compressed; and Figs.5 and view of a part of ig. 4 is a plan 'ilo 6 are illustrations of suchproducts manun' factured according to `my improved process. The machinecomprises a' vat a having ax narrow opening b, extending the entire*ywidth of Jthe length of its bottom. The opening is made adjustable bythe hinged dro or gate c and adjusting screws d. A

mec anical stirrer or mixer e is mounted in the vat. Its shaft f isextended outside of the vat and a driving 'pulley g is keyed to Astirrer or esegua shaft projects from the trough and a pulley y is setthereon for drivingit. A chute m is arranged above this trough and atone end of it for conveying into 1t the materials to be mixed therein,and on the other end of the trough three outletl chutes n, o, p areconnected to suitable openings in its bottom. These chutes lead 'tosieves g, r, s respectively. The sieves `are arranged above troughs t,u, fu, and are secured at one end to the troughs by pivotal connectionsw. The pivots pass through elongated holes'or slots formed in the end ofthe troughs t, u, o, to permit a slight oscillating motion of thesieves, and an agitator y is secured to the other ends of the troughs t,u, fv, tol give to them a short and comparatively rapid oscillatingmotlon. The troughs are V- shaped at the bottom, and have a narrowopening extending the entire length of their bottoms. Troughs t, u, arelocated above and a little within the center lines of the rollers L-L,and trough v is at the rear of the rollers above the rear end of theapron z' described farther on. 'Underneath the vat a and at a suitabledistance below it, two compressing rollers L-L are mounted, one. on eachside of the opening b, and provided with suitable driving gear. Belowthese rollers an endless apron i is stretched upon two rollers j, j, anddriven to move in the direction indicated by an arrow in Fig. l. Apronz' is supported on platform z" to prevent its sagging underneath theweight of the material carried thereon and'to facilitate themanipulations thereof.

Adjoining roller j an inclined platform a is arranged forminga take-olffor the layer of the material and a bridge for conveying it to thecompressing rollers c, lo. These rollers are arranged one above theother, the lower roller 7c, being mounted in fixed bearings while theupper roller lc', is mounted in bearings set in slideways and suspendedupon tackle by which it may be raised and lowered and, if need be,partly balanced toV regulate the pressure upon the sheet rolled betweenthem. Beyond rollers c and le there may be a winding mechanism or aplatform w as shown in the drawin s for folding the sheet upon itself.This wi l be governed by the requirement of the manufacture for whichthe sheet,is to be used. v

By this process' of manufacture the fibers embedded in the bituminouscement impart Y to the product such tensile strength and elasticity asnatural wood of the kind, used for the manufacture of such articles.possesses, while the cementing mixture absolutely protects the fibersagainst the deteriorating influence of moisture and atmospheric air andalso against insects, fungus and other parasitic growth.

The product resulting` from this process is 'somewhat heavier than wood,but equally if duce its weight;

mixing paring (l) heating the tar,

-not more resistant against crushing or comeven if'made hollow, which itmay whenever desirable to re- The material willV safely withstand ashigh temperature as wuod, used for such purpose, and willnot softenwhenonce hardened or set. It lis most suitable also for manufacture of waterand sewer pipes, gas mains and electrical conduits and particularly formanufacture ,of conduits and for constructing or lining of tanks usedpressin be ma e, safely,

for storing and conveying of corrosive chemicals.

I claim as my invention 1. A binding or cementing material compounded ofcoal-tar, dead oil, hard pitch and crushed siliceous material,substantially as herein set forth.

2. A binding or cementing material compounded of coal-tar, dead oil,hard pitchv and crushed slag, substantially as herein set fort-h.

3. A binding or cementing material compounded of approximately 26parts,measured by volume, of coal-tar, 1() parts of dead oil, 26 parts ofhardpitch vand of a suitable quantit stantial y as herein set forth.

of'crushed siliceous material, sub- 4. A binding or cementing materialcoml Apounded of approximately 26 parts, meas- 10 parts of dead 95uredby volume, of coal-tar, oil, 26 parts of hard pitch and 65 to 75parts of crushed slag, substantially as herein set forth. f 5.Therprocess of compounding and preparing for use'a binding or cement-ingmaterial of coal-tar, dead oil, hard pitch and of adry filler,consisting of following stepsz (l) heating the tar, adding thereto ofthe deadl oil and thoroughly mixing. the compo` sition; (2) pulverizingthe hard pitch and it with the dry filler; (3)v forming the mlxturesofthe liquid and of the pulverulent ingredients into alternating layers,and (4) compressing the layers together.

6. The process of compounding and prefor use a binding or cementingmaterial of coal-tar, dead oil, hard pitch and a dry filler, consistingof following steps:- adding thereto of the dead oil and thoroughlymixing the/,composition; (2) pulverizin'g the hard,pitch and mixing itwith the dry filler; 4(3) forming the mixture of the dry ingredients insubstantially evenly thin and continuous layers; (4) conveying theheated mixture of the liquid ingredients ina substantially continuousand evenly thin flow between the layers of the dry ingredients, and (5)compressing the layers together. y, 7. Material for making articles ofmanufacture composed of oarsely'separated vegetable fibers andacompositin of coal-tar,' dead oil, hard pitch and tially as herein setforth.

` 8. Material for making articles of manu-- a dry filler, substanfacturecomposed of coarsely separated Vegetable fibers and a composition ofcoal-tar, dead oil, hard pitch and a siliceous material, substantiallyas herein set forth.

9. Material for making articles of manufacture composed of coarselyseparated vegetable fibers and a composition consisting of i coal-tar,dead oil, hard pitch and crushed slag compounded substantially as hereinset forth.

FRANK VVEGKERLY.

Witnesses: f Y e EDGAR C. VAN DYKE, MARY F. SMITH.

